1. Technical Field
The disclosed subject matter relates to a vehicle lamp unit and, more particularly, a vehicle lamp unit having a projection lens configured such that it appears as if the projection lens is floating in air.
2. Description of the Related Art
A direct-projection-type vehicle lamp unit is known which causes light from a semiconductor light source or a light emitting diode (LED) to directly enter a projection lens without being reflected by a reflector (for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-95479).
The vehicle lamp described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-95479 has, as shown in FIG. 11, an LED 10′, which is a semiconductor light source, a projection lens 20′ disposed in front of a light emitting surface 10a′ of the LED 10′, and a shade 30′ disposed between the LED 10′ and the projection lens 20′. A portion of light emitted from the LED 10′ enters the projection lens 20′ to be projected forward, while another portion of the light is blocked by the shade 30′.